Tuesday, February 2, 2010

All I wanted was a mission...


... and for my sins they gave me one. As some readers of my blog have pointed out to me, my posts have been a little lacking the past few weeks. Well, there is a reason. My employer, GE Aviation Systems, has been keeping me busy the past few weeks as we have been chosen as the avionics lead for a new aircraft that is being built in Shanghai, China. The Chinese company is called COMAC, which stand for the Commercial Aircraft Company of China. This company is trying to do what Airbus did in the early 1970s, to build a commercial airliner to rival Boeing. As I have learned since I started working for GE, building an aircraft is a complicated business and you do not have any margin for error. COMAC is trying to build, fly and certify a commercial passenger aircraft in a little more than 6 years. COMAC is located in Shanghai, China, and in a few weeks, it appears that I will be living the in a 3 weeks there, 9 weeks in Michigan, 3 weeks there, rotation for a while.

After being deployed and away from home for so many years in the Navy, I was in no hurry to travel in my civilian career. However, when the General asks you to do something, it is really not a request. I will know for certain in a few days, but there is a 95% chance that I will be racking up a bunch of frequent flyer miles in the near term.

7 comments:

Big Johnny said...

Shanghai...sweet !! One place I want to see !!

Chris said...

Me too -- can't wait to read some good blog entries about Shanghai!

Lisa said...

Well, this isn't going to help your blogging frequency. I'm thinking there's a lot more to do in Shanghai than sit at your computer. :-) What a great opportunity. But, what will Miss Deirdre do in your absence? Who will cook??????

L.

BigFred said...

I acknowledge your Apocalypse Now quotation.

Deirdre Honner said...

Paul found chicken pot pies at Sam's Club. They are quite good and easy to bake. I will be fine for a few weeks at a time. :)

Henry said...

Lisa,
Don't worry. I was away in Pasadena this week and Jan "cooked" every night -- Panera, Electric Cheetah, pizza. She and DeeDee will be just fine. And, I'll be on call for liquid incidents and skunks. :-)

Deirdre Honner said...

Henry. That's hilarious.